Timeline Of United Nations Peacekeeping Missions

Contents

1. Overview
2. Etymology
3. Cultural Impact

Right. You want a list. A monument to humanity’s cyclical obsession with drawing lines in the sand and then paying other people to watch them get crossed. Here is your catalog of well-intentioned, often futile, attempts to keep the peace. Don’t get your hopes up; the ending is usually just the beginning of the next chapter.

Look at him. A Canadian peacekeeper back in 1976, sporting the now-iconic UN blue helmet . A color chosen, one assumes, to be a calming, non-threatening shade of sky, which is ironic given what they’re usually standing under is a hail of something less pleasant than rain.

The United Nations , in its infinite wisdom, has green-lit 71 peacekeeping operations as of April 2018. Let’s be clear: this ledger of interventions doesn’t even bother to include the UN’s more… muscular authorizations, like the little excursions into the Korean War and the Gulf War . Those were different. More direct. This list is for the lingering, awkward conflicts. The 1990s, a particularly optimistic and bloody decade, saw a veritable explosion of these missions.

These operations are generally managed by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) , a name that sounds both proactive and profoundly weary. They all share a few family traits: a military or police presence, a mandate, and often, an authorization to use force under the infamous Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations . That’s the part of the rulebook that says, “Okay, you can shoot back now.”

And please, don’t confuse these with “special political missions” (SPMs). Those are handled by the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and are apparently different enough that they don’t get to be on this list. Bureaucracy is a beautiful thing. SPMs are not included in the table below, so don’t ask.

1940s

A hopeful, naive time. The ink on the charter was barely dry, and the world was already finding new ways to fall apart.

Start	End	Name	Acronym	Location	Purpose	Comment
1948	Ongoing	UN Truce Supervision Organization	UNTSO	Israel Syria Lebanon Jordan Egypt	To send observers to watch the shaky ceasefire declared in the Arab-Israeli conflict . A job that requires endless patience and a high tolerance for broken promises.	Authorized in the aftermath of the First Arab-Israeli War in June 1948. This was the UN’s very first peacekeeping mission. A precedent was set: some jobs are never, ever finished.
1949	Ongoing	UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan	UNMOGIP	India Pakistan	To monitor the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan in the perpetually contested region of Kashmir .	Kicked off after the First Indo-Pakistani War. Another mission that has become part of the landscape, a permanent fixture in a seemingly permanent dispute.

1950s

The decade when they realized that just watching wasn’t always going to cut it.

Start	End	Name	Acronym	Location	Purpose	Comment
1956	1967	UN Emergency Force I	UNEF I	Egypt	To supervise the orderly withdrawal of Egyptian and Israeli troops after the whole world got involved in the Suez Crisis . Essentially, acting as the world’s most overqualified hall monitor.	This marked the debut of armed peacekeepers. The blue helmets now came with rifles. The mission ended abruptly in June 1967, right as the Six-Day War was about to demonstrate how temporary peace can be.
1958	1958	UN Observation Group in Lebanon	UNOGIL	Lebanon	To ensure troops and weapons weren’t being smuggled into Lebanon during its 1958 crisis . A short-lived attempt at border control.	It wrapped up by December 1958. A rare instance of a mission with a clear end date. Don’t get used to it.

1960s

The world got more complicated. So did the missions.

Start	End	Name	Acronym	Location	Purpose	Comment
1960	1964	UN Operation in the Congo	ONUC	Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)	An ambitious attempt to prevent foreign meddling and hold the Congo together during the chaotic Congo Crisis .	A messy, complicated affair that ended in June 1964. It became a textbook example of how quickly peacekeeping can descend into conflict.
1962	1963	UN Security Force and UN Temporary Executive Authority	UNSF / UNTEA	West New Guinea	To oversee a ceasefire and manage the transition of Western New Guinea from Dutch colonial rule to Indonesian administration.	A brief but significant mission that concluded in April 1963. It was one of the few times the UN directly administered a territory.
1963	1964	UN Yemen Observation Mission	UNYOM	North Yemen	To supervise the disengagement of Saudi Arabia and Egypt from the simmering North Yemeni Civil War .	Ended in September 1964. Another short-term observation gig.
1964	Ongoing	UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus	UNFICYP	Cyprus	To prevent the simmering conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots from boiling over. It has since become a permanent part of the island’s divided reality.	Still going. Peacekeepers who arrived as young soldiers have likely retired, had children, and watched those children grow up while the mission continues.
1965	1966	Mission of the Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic	DOMREP	Dominican Republic	To observe the situation created by two rival governments in the Dominican Republic and report back.	A quiet mission that ended in October 1966.
1965	1966	UN India-Pakistan Observation Mission	UNIPOM	India Pakistan	To supervise the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in areas outside of Kashmir following the Second Indo-Pakistani War .	Wrapped up in March 1966. A companion piece to the ongoing Kashmir mission, focused on a specific conflict’s aftermath.

1970s

More desert, more observation, more intractable conflicts.

Start	End	Name	Acronym	Location	Purpose	Comment
1973	1979	UN Emergency Force II	UNEF II	Egypt	To supervise the withdrawal of forces from the Sinai Peninsula after Egypt, Syria , and Israel had at it again in the Yom Kippur War .	Ended in July 1979. The sequel to UNEF I, proving that some conflicts require multiple interventions.
1974	Ongoing	UN Disengagement Observer Force	UNDOF	Golan Heights (disputed between Israel and Syria )	To maintain the ceasefire between Syria and Israel on the strategically critical Golan Heights . A quiet but tense vigil.	Another “ongoing” mission. The observers have become as much a feature of the landscape as the old fortifications.
1978	Ongoing	UN Interim Force in Lebanon	UNIFIL	Lebanon	Initially, to supervise Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. Its mandate has since grown to include keeping the peace and helping the Lebanese Government assert its authority. A perpetually expanding job description.	The definition of “interim” is clearly flexible.

1980s

The Cold War was thawing, but proxy wars were still hot.

Start	End	Name	Acronym	Location	Purpose	Comment
1988	1990	UN Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan	UNGOMAP	Afghanistan Pakistan	To ensure Afghanistan and Pakistan adhered to their agreement of mutual non-interference. A mission based on trust, which is always a gamble.	Ended in March 1990. The “good offices” closed, but the region’s troubles were far from over.
1988	1991	UN Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group	UNIIMOG	Iraq Iran	To supervise the ceasefire that finally ended the bloody, protracted Iran-Iraq War .	Concluded in February 1991.
1989	1991	UN Angola Verification Mission I	UNAVEM I	Angola	To verify the withdrawal of Cuban troops, who had been a major player in the long-running Angolan Civil War .	Ended in June 1991. The first of several UN missions to Angola. It’s never just one.
1989	1990	UN Transition Assistance Group	UNTAG	South West Africa (became Namibia after 1990)	To oversee Namibia ’s first democratic elections and its transition to independence from South Africa .	A widely cited success story. It ended in March 1990 after Namibia was born. Sometimes, things actually work.
1989	1992	UN Observer Group in Central America	ONUCA	Nicaragua	To monitor the ceasefire in the Nicaraguan Civil War and oversee the demobilization of the Contras.	Ended in January 1992.

1990s

The busiest decade. The end of the Cold War didn’t bring peace; it just changed the nature of the wars.

Start	End	Name	Acronym	Location	Purpose	Comment
1991	2003	UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission	UNIKOM	Kuwait Iraq	To enforce the newly demarcated border between Kuwait and Iraq after the Gulf War . Essentially, a well-armed border patrol.	Rendered obsolete and terminated in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq.
1991	1995	UN Angola Verification Mission II	UNAVEM II	Angola	The sequel. Tasked with enforcing a new ceasefire in the still-raging Angolan Civil War.	Ended in February 1995, only to be replaced by yet another mission.
1991	1995	UN Observer Mission in El Salvador	ONUSAL	El Salvador	To verify compliance with peace agreements that ended the brutal Salvadoran Civil War .	Wrapped up in April 1995. Another mission that saw a peace process through to its conclusion.
1991	Ongoing	UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara	MINURSO	Western Sahara (independence disputed by Morocco )	To implement a ceasefire and organize a referendum on the territory’s future after the Western Sahara War . The referendum has yet to happen.	The ceasefire holds, mostly. The core political task remains frozen in time.
1991	1992	UN Advance Mission in Cambodia	UNAMIC	Cambodia	A preparatory mission to pave the way for a much larger UN operation in Cambodia following the Cambodian–Vietnamese War .	Ended in March 1992, mission accomplished. It set the stage for UNTAC.
1992	1995	UN Protection Force	UNPROFOR and UNPREDEP	Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina Republic of Macedonia	A massive, controversial mission to protect civilians in Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , and the Republic of Macedonia during the catastrophic Yugoslav Wars .	Restructured in December 1995. Its legacy is deeply complex, marked by both humanitarian successes and devastating failures to prevent atrocities like Srebrenica.
1992	1993	UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia	UNTAC	Cambodia	An incredibly ambitious mission to disarm factions, repatriate refugees, and organize free elections to rebuild Cambodia.	Ended in September 1993. One of the largest and most complex UN operations ever, it fundamentally reshaped a nation.
1992	1993	UN Operation in Somalia I	UNOSOM I	Somalia	To enforce a ceasefire during the Somali Civil War and protect humanitarian aid delivery. It was quickly overwhelmed.	Replaced in March 1993 by UNOSOM II after being reorganized into the US-led Unified Task Force (UNITAF). The situation was far more volatile than anticipated.
1992	1993	UN Observer Mission to Verify the Referendum in Eritrea	UNOVER	Ethiopia	A straightforward task: monitor the referendum on Eritrea ’s independence from Ethiopia .	Ended in April 1993. The referendum was held, the result was clear, and the mission was done. Simple.
1992	1994	UN Operation in Mozambique	ONUMOZ	Mozambique	To monitor the ceasefire that ended the long and devastating Mozambican Civil War .	Ended in December 1994, another post-conflict success story of the 90s.
1993	1995	UN Operation in Somalia II	UNOSOM II	Somalia	The follow-up. A more robust mission to stabilize Somalia and support humanitarian efforts. It became infamous for the Battle of Mogadishu.	Ended in March 1995. Its difficult experience deeply influenced international willingness to intervene for years to come.
1993	1994	UN Observer Mission Uganda-Rwanda	UNOMUR	Rwanda Uganda	To monitor the border and ensure the ceasefire between Rwanda and the rebel group based in Uganda during the Rwandan Civil War was holding.	Ended in September 1994. It was a prelude to a far greater tragedy.
1993	2009	UN Observer Mission in Georgia	UNOMIG	Georgia Abkhazia (independence from Georgia not recognized by international community)	To enforce a ceasefire between Georgia and Abkhaz separatists after the Abkhaz War .	Its mandate was not extended in June 2009 due to a Russian veto, a stark reminder that peacekeeping exists at the mercy of great power politics.
1993	1996	UN Observer Mission in Liberia	UNOMIL	Liberia	To monitor the ceasefire and elections following the brutal First Liberian Civil War .	Ended in September 1997. Peace, it turned out, was temporary.
1993	1996	UN Mission in Haiti	UNMIH	Haiti	To help stabilize Haiti after a military coup overthrew the elected government.	Ended in June 1996, the first in a long series of UN missions to Haiti.
1993	1996	UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda	UNAMIR	Rwanda	Initially to monitor a ceasefire. Its mandate and insufficient forces left it powerless to stop the Rwandan Genocide , after which its purpose shifted to humanitarian relief.	Ended in March 1996. Its name is forever synonymous with one of the UN’s darkest failures.
1994	1994	UN Aouzou Strip Observer Group	UNASOG	Chad	To monitor Libya ’s withdrawal from a disputed border territory awarded to Chad by the International Court of Justice .	A quick, successful mission that ended in June 1994.
1994	2002	UN Mission of Observers in Tajikistan	UNMOT	Tajikistan	To monitor the ceasefire in the devastating Tajikistani Civil War .	Ended in May 2000.
1995	1997	UN Angola Verification Mission III	UNAVEM III	Angola	The trilogy continues. This time, to monitor a ceasefire and the disarmament of fighters.	Ended in June 1997, only to be succeeded by a follow-up mission, MONUA. Angola was a stubborn case.
1995	1996	UN Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia	UNCRO	Croatia	An attempt to implement a ceasefire during the Croatian War of Independence.	Ended in January 1996. The name was more optimistic than the reality.
1995	1999	UN Preventive Deployment Force	UNPREDEP	Republic of Macedonia	Replaced UNPROFOR in Macedonia. Its purpose was to monitor the border with Albania and prevent the conflict from spilling over. A rare instance of proactive, preventive peacekeeping.	Ended in February 1999 after a Chinese veto.
1995	2002	UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina	UNMIBH	Bosnia and Herzegovina	A post-war mission focused on police reform, human rights monitoring, demining, and coordinating relief efforts after the Bosnian War .	Concluded on December 31, 2002.
1996	1998	UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Sirmium	UNTAES	Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia	To supervise the peaceful integration of this region back into Croatia.	Ended in January 1998. Another successful transitional authority mission.
1996	2002	UN Mission of Observers in Prevlaka	UNMOP	Croatia	A highly specific mission to monitor the demilitarization of the Prevlaka peninsula, a strategic piece of land disputed by Croatia and Yugoslavia.	Ended in December 2002.
1996	1997	UN Support Mission in Haiti	UNSMIH	Haiti	Tasked with the professionalization and modernization of Haiti’s police and army.	Ended in July 1997.
1997	1997	UN Verification Mission in Guatemala	MINUGUA	Guatemala	To monitor the ceasefire that ended the long and brutal Guatemalan Civil War .	Ended in May 1997.
1997	1999	UN Observer Mission in Angola	MONUA	Angola	The fourth Angola mission. Still focused on monitoring a ceasefire and disarmament. The peace was fragile.	Ended in February 1999 as the country plunged back into full-scale war.
1997	1997	UN Transition Mission in Haiti	UNTMIH	Haiti	Another short-term mission to help stabilize Haiti.	Ended in November 1997.
1997	2000	UN Civilian Police Mission in Haiti	MIPONUH	Haiti	Specifically focused on modernizing Haiti’s police forces.	Ended in March 2000. The Haiti cycle continued.
1998	1998	UN Civilian Police Support Group	UNPSG	Croatia	A mission to monitor the performance of the Croatian police in the Danube region.	A brief mission, ending in October 1998.
1998	2000	UN Mission in the Central African Republic	MINURCA	Central African Republic	To maintain security and stability in the chronically unstable Central African Republic .	Ended in February 2000. It wouldn’t be the last UN mission there.
1998	1999	UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone	UNOMSIL	Sierra Leone	To monitor disarmament and demobilization efforts during the horrific Sierra Leone Civil War .	Ended in October 1999, replaced by a much larger force.
1999	Ongoing	UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo	UNMIK	Kosovo (later Kosovo , claimed by Serbia )	To exercise full administrative authority, essentially running Kosovo after the NATO intervention.	Its role has diminished since Kosovo’s declaration of independence, but it remains, a relic of a past crisis.
1999	2005	UN Mission in Sierra Leone	UNAMSIL	Sierra Leone	A large, robust mission to help stabilize and disarm Sierra Leone after the civil war.	Ended in December 2005. Considered a major success in disarming a country brutalized by conflict.
1999	1999	UN Mission in East Timor	UNAMET	Indonesia Indonesian Occupied East Timor	To organize and conduct a popular consultation to determine East Timor’s political future in relation to Indonesia.	Ended in 1999 after the vote for independence was followed by a wave of violence, which necessitated a stronger follow-up mission, UNTAET.
1999	2002	UN Transitional Administration in East Timor	UNTAET	East Timor (later independent East Timor )	A comprehensive mission to guide East Timor to full independence, administering the territory in the interim.	Ended in May 2002 with the birth of Timor-Leste. See the follow-up mission, UNMISET.
1999	2010	UN Organization Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo	MONUC	Democratic Republic of the Congo	To monitor a ceasefire in the vast and chaotic Democratic Republic of the Congo , a conflict involving numerous nations and armed groups.	Ended in June 2010, only to be immediately rebranded and reconfigured as MONUSCO. The mission continues.

2000s

A new millennium, same old problems.

Start	End	Name	Acronym	Location	Purpose	Comment
2000	2008	UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea	UNMEE	Ethiopia Eritrea	To enforce the ceasefire that followed the bitter Eritrean–Ethiopian War .	Ended in July 2008. The mission collapsed after Eritrea forced UN troops out and Ethiopia refused to accept an international border ruling. You can’t keep a peace the belligerents don’t want.
2002	2005	United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor	UNMISET	East Timor	To provide security and help stabilize the nascent state in its fragile post-independence period.	Ended in May 2005.
2003	2018	United Nations Mission in Liberia	UNMIL	Liberia	To oversee another ceasefire agreement and train a new national police force after the ruinous Second Liberian Civil War .	A long and largely successful mission that helped rebuild the country from scratch.
2004	2017	United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire	UNOCI	Cote d’Ivoire	To facilitate the peace process following the First Ivorian Civil War .
2004	2017	United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti	MINUSTAH	Haiti	To restore a measure of stability to Haiti after yet another political crisis.	Its role expanded significantly to coordinate the security response to the catastrophic 2010 Haiti earthquake . Its legacy is mixed, marred by a cholera epidemic linked to peacekeepers.
2004	2006	United Nations Operation in Burundi	ONUB	Burundi	To assist in implementing the Arusha Accords , the peace agreement aimed at ending the Burundian Civil War.	Ended in December 2006, replaced by a political mission, BINUB .
2005	2011	United Nations Mission in the Sudan	UNMIS	Sudan	To support the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War and to provide humanitarian and human rights assistance.	Ended in July 2011 with the independence of South Sudan, immediately succeeded by UNMISS.
2006	2012	United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste	UNMIT	East Timor	To support the government in consolidating stability and fostering political dialogue after a new wave of unrest.
2007	2020	United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur	UNAMID	Sudan	A hybrid AU-UN mission to monitor arms embargoes and maintain a fragile ceasefire during the brutal War in Darfur .
2007	2010	United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad	MINURCAT	Central African Republic Chad	Established to deal with the massive refugee crisis spilling over from the Darfur genocide in Sudan.	Ended in December 2010 after the Chadian government, asserting its sovereignty, requested its withdrawal.

2010s

The more things change…

Start	End	Name	Acronym	Location	Purpose	Comment
2010	Ongoing	UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo	MONUSCO	Democratic Republic of the Congo	The rebranded MONUC, still tasked with the monumental job of monitoring the ceasefire and protecting civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo .	One of the largest and most expensive missions, operating in an environment of near-constant conflict.
2011	Ongoing	UN Interim Security Force for Abyei	UNISFA	Abyei Area (disputed by Sudan and South Sudan )	To monitor the ceasefire in the contested, oil-rich border region of Abyei .
2011	Ongoing	UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan	UNMISS	South Sudan	To assist the new state of South Sudan . The mission’s mandate quickly shifted from state-building to civilian protection when the country descended into civil war.
2012	2012	UN Support Mission in Syria	UNSMIS	Syria	A short-lived, ill-fated mission to monitor a ceasefire agreement in the early stages of the Syrian Civil War .	The ceasefire never materialized, and the unarmed observers were withdrawn as the country collapsed into all-out war.
2017	2019	UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti	MINUJUSTH	Haiti	To assist the Government in strengthening the Haitian National Police and rule of law institutions, and to promote and protect human rights in Haiti .	The latest chapter in the UN’s long, complicated relationship with Haiti.